tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post114593726472748955..comments2018-05-15T08:50:04.722-06:00Comments on Atheist Ethicist: The Impeachment ResolutionAlonzo Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145998355821739172006-04-25T14:52:00.000-06:002006-04-25T14:52:00.000-06:00Funny, I read Harris's book months ago. I did not ...Funny, I read Harris's book months ago. I did not come away with a hate for muslims. I came away with fear of faith driven society. If anything, Harris uses Muslims of today as the current best example of how wrong things can go when faith and irrationality drive behavior. Christians before the reformation could have worked just as well.<BR/><BR/>and a quote from the most recent poster: "And the fourth point is just wrong. Killing people for what they believe is one of the gravest evils of religion and definitely NOT one that should be emulated."<BR/><BR/>Let's assume that I will use deadly force if someone uses deadly force against me. Why might someone use deadly force against me? Because they BELIEVE I might kill them. This is how many murders/wars are justified - I fear for my survival (belive my existence is in jepordy) so I better act first...<BR/>Leaders of all sorts (religious leaders included) are excellent at convincing followers that the "bad guys" "threaten our existence" so go out and preemptively kill the bad guys. Problem is, they often define "bad guy" as "someone different than me" (different skin color, religion, nationality etc...)Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10967462422869158320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145979582143688142006-04-25T09:39:00.000-06:002006-04-25T09:39:00.000-06:00- there are no moderate Muslims- that Islam is not...<I>- there are no moderate Muslims<BR/>- that Islam is not just fundamentally, but always a bloody and hateful religion - in ways incomparable to it's Christian cousin<BR/>- that by allowing them into North America we have jeopardized our nations (all Muslims here are laying in wait for the time when they can ultimately take over)<BR/>- considers that the genocide of all Muslims might be viable option for us in the next so many years . . .</I><BR/><BR/>(Quoting doesn't work here?)<BR/><BR/>Well, the first point is obviously and factually wrong. It's a statement of fact, and it's false.<BR/><BR/>The second is half right - Islam is often bloody and hateful in ways *identical* to its Christian cousin and their common Jewish parent. All three are explicitly opposed to religious tolerance and it's amazing that we as a species eventually managed to develop it even in the face of such opposition. I guess a few centuries of being jerked around and shoved into wars by religious leaders will do that, eventually.<BR/><BR/>The third point is possibly right, but it's not clear to me that a Muslim takeover would be worse than the Christian takeover we already have. It might be, it might not. If there really weren't any moderate Muslims, then it would almost certainly be worse, so I guess this follows from his first mistake.<BR/><BR/>And the fourth point is just wrong. Killing people for what they believe is one of the gravest evils of religion and definitely NOT one that should be emulated. Convincing them to abandon a belief system based on hate and on believing what someone says just because they said God said it is one thing, killing them is quite another.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Which "folks" are buying Harris' argument without complaint? Christians that need an enemy to fulfill their prophecies of Armageddon, sure, but can you point to any atheist who believes Harris? A Buddhist? A Hindu? A Jain? A neopagan? An agnostic? Even moderate Christians and Jews would find it hard to swallow, I bet (a rejection of faith-based genocide being one of the necessary qualifications for being a moderate anything).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145975353696644232006-04-25T08:29:00.000-06:002006-04-25T08:29:00.000-06:00KhyExisting sliding-scale income taxes will automa...<B>Khy</B><BR/><BR/>Existing sliding-scale income taxes will automatically incorporate a type of "windfall profits tax" on oil. Whatever income an individual has that pushes them into a higher tax bracket, or triggers the 'alternative minimum tax', will then result in higher taxes regardless of the source. If oil revenue is the cause of extra income, then oil revenue is what will be taxed. There is no need for a special tax on oil revenue.<BR/><BR/>My opposition to the windfall profits tax is not that it will drive prices up further (as companies seek additional revenue to pay for the additional tax). This might happen. My objection is that, when there is a shortage (whether it is in food or energy), it is wiser to reward those who are working to counter that shortage, rather than punish them. When there is not enough food, this is a poor time to be punishing farmers with an extra tax. When there is not enough energy, this is a poor time to be punishing energy producers.<BR/><BR/>These types of actions make the problem worse, not better.<BR/><BR/>I am perfectly comfortable with taxing the rich. If one wants to argue for an energy assistance program to help the poor heat their homes, further improve public transportation, and invest in alternative forms of energy, then I would support a <I>general</I> tax on the rich to do these things. However, this is all consistent with holding that a <I>specific</I> tax that <I>targets</I> energy producers with extra burdens is a poor way to deal with an energy shortage.Alonzo Fyfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145971847697592362006-04-25T07:30:00.000-06:002006-04-25T07:30:00.000-06:00NICE BLOG KEEP IT UP http://dam-nation.blogspot.co...NICE BLOG KEEP IT UP http://dam-nation.blogspot.com/Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15434425869731421090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145969303442675262006-04-25T06:48:00.000-06:002006-04-25T06:48:00.000-06:00I almost always like your arguments from analogy, ...I almost always like your arguments from analogy, but today's "oil shortage = famine" one falls flat. In times of famine, there are no abundant alternative food sources; it is as though there were suddenly a shortage of game, and rather than switch to grains (a healthier and more sustainable choice in the short AND long terms), the villagers pay more and more for a commodity that they don't really need--if only they'd bother to learn to cultivate what is already available.<BR/><BR/>Is it right and fair that the government impose a windfall tax? I don't see that such taxation is much different from a sliding-scale income tax, so there's precedent at least. Perhaps its effect would be to raise prices even higher, which I'd favor in principle given that eventually people would HAVE to start seeking out practical alternatives.khynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1145966786072275702006-04-25T06:06:00.000-06:002006-04-25T06:06:00.000-06:00When a New York Times best seller claims that:- th...When a New York Times best seller claims that:<BR/>- there are no moderate Muslims<BR/>- that Islam is not just fundamentally, but always a bloody and hateful religion - in ways incomparable to it's Christian cousin<BR/>- that by allowing them into North America we have jeopardized our nations (all Muslims here are laying in wait for the time when they can ultimately take over)<BR/>- considers that the genocide of all Muslims might be viable option for us in the next so many years . . .<BR/>(Sam Harris - <I>The End of Faith</I>)<BR/><BR/>and folks buy it all, without a thought of complaint . . .<BR/><BR/>Well, that's just a few of the reasons I can sympathize with the notion that there's a 'war on Islam' being waged in some sense of the terms.<BR/><BR/>Another thought, when many of today's Christians would actually <I>like</I> to see nuclear weapons used in the Middle East on 'Abraham's cursed children' - as is 'predicted' in Revelations . . .<BR/><BR/>I realise the PEW polls out recently indicate that Atheists are America's most distrusted and disliked minority, but I find it hard to believe we are anything as hated as Muslims are right now.<BR/><BR/>At least, far fewer people are discussing the possibilities of eradicating us by force - and those people don't have best selling books.Angry Atheisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17738282778953159590noreply@blogger.com